Pieces Of My Autobiography
by Shalan the Magnificent
Summary: AU Rukia is a beauty with power, men want her, women worship her and world leaders want her opinion but then she hits a wall that she cannot pass. Where is the fairy tale she always wanted? IchiRuki.
1. The Trouble Begins

**Title: **Pieces of MyAutobiography

**Summary: **AU Rukia is a beauty with power, men want her, women worship her and world leaders want her opinion but then she hits a wall that she cannot pass. Where is the fairy tale she always wanted? IchiRuki.

**Shalan's Say: **Uhm… to be honest I am deathly sick today… I HATE CHINESE FOOD IT MAKES ME SICK EVERYTIME I EAT IT! Anyways… I was cleaning and listening to Ashlee Simpson and suddenly this happened upon me… I think it should be good… at least… I hope it will be…

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Bleach… however I do own Kazumi and this awesome little thingy called a TIDE PEN… it's pretty awesome you should get one… _scrubs a spot on shirt with pen_

**Chapter: **The Trouble Begins

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A sweet melodious song trembled through the room. The lulling tones of Micheal Buble invaded the pile of blankets on the king sized bed. A corner of a blanket lifted up, an azure eye adjusting to see the time on the dimly lit digital clock face. Emerging, like a cautious and timid hermit crab, a manicured hand slid its way across the oak bedside table. A French tipped nail clicked against a vibrating Crimson Palm Treo 680. Her fingers brushed the little object then gripped, quickly retreating back under the burrow of blankets and pillows.

"No one I know would call me this early…" an 'I'm too grumpy to talk to you' voice spoke. The warm skin her arm brushed against trembled lightly and unconsciously.

"Kazumi!" The voice sounded either frightened or terribly excited. "Kazumi! I NEED you!" Okay… so she was frightened.

"Calm down and explain yourself…" The red haired woman sat up, stretching her arms above her head as far as they would go.

"You're my publicist you're supposed to explain things to me!" The woman on the other line practically shouted.

"What are you rambling about you OCD stricken hypochondria ridden psychopath?" Kazumi folded her legs Indian style, running a hand through her hair.

"I'm none of those things!" The other voice complained.

"Then explain to me why you are calling me a-a-a-at 3:30 in the morning…" Kazumi yawned as movement from the pile of blankets began again. A hand ran out from beneath the sheets and up her thigh to rest its fingers near the soft flesh of her inner thigh.

"Because! I don't have anything to do tomorrow!" Kazumi dropped back onto the bed and tossed the phone across the room. "KAZUMI! KAZUMI!" She heard a faint voice from across the room as she buried herself beneath the sheets again into the welcoming arms of her bedmate.

"What's goin' o'?" The baritone of his voice trembling in her ears. She shook her head as he kissed her tenderly.

"How am I supposed to answer you when my mouth is busy?" She laughed just before he pinned her to the bed.

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The raven-haired woman stared at her phone angrily then tossed it across the room into the wastebasket. She mumbled something under her breath then looked back at the empty schedule for the next day. Mournfully she stood up and meandered into her kitchen and opened the fridge slowly. "Nothing to do in here…" the petite brunette banged her head against the door after she closed it, leaving forehead prints on the shiny mirrored surface.

Her eyes drifted across the modernly furnished room, across the black leather couch, loveseat and recliner. The 50 inch flat screen that was attached to the wall above her DVD player, surround sound system and DIRECTV receiver reflected her face back at her and she frowned. It was 4:30 in the morning in New York City and she was already upset.

"There HAS to be something I can do today…" She told her reflection in the television. The brunette's hair was perfect, a single strand of the sleek black hair hung across her face, her indigo blue eyes flared with anger as she stared at herself a few minutes longer. Dressed in a tight black long sleeved shirt and a pair of light grey sweat pants the pretty young woman looked like she was ready for bed but the fact that for the first time in her life she had an ENTIRE day with nothing scheduled… it was awkward for her… therefore… she knew Kazumi must have screwed up somewhere… the woman who was supposed to be her best friend and her PR was failing her.

"Then I guess if I have nothing to do… I'll just… go out…" Her lips pursed. She puffed her chest out with a 'huff' and smiled lightly.

She was beautiful, she was spunky, she was opinionated and she was usually right.

Rukia Kuchiki was a former lawyer turned writer. Her 5.0 from Brearly School for Girls in New York County, New York entered her into Harvard Law School at 15. She graduated at 19 from Harvard and entered the law community, quickly working her way up the prosecuting attorney ranks. The moment she turned 21 she inherited the large sum of money that her parents had left her when they died making her net worth somewhere near 34.5 million dollars, with only 12 million dollars being inherited money.

Soon after she was wanted on every TV show from CNN to MSNBC to FOX for her own television show, she was asked to appear on some of the hottest television shows from Oprah to Larry King and she was worshipped by the modern woman who believed in working and not relying on a man for their lives.

She was written about in People and Time as well as the National Enquirer, she was the woman everyone wanted to be, the woman everyone wanted to see. She was speculated, venerated, degraded and praised. She was a hard hitting woman with a head of her own, publishing several books in two years and beginning her own line of petite shoes and clothes.

She was a socialite with manners to boot, she was the polite young woman that everyone wanted to see… and she was heading a campaign that spoke of Women's Rights and had 'freedom fighter' written all over it. She argued that a woman was free to make her choice, that the double standards that existed should be erased, that public figures should realize that their personal privacy is not something they have to give away if they don't want to.

She was sought after, she was stalked, she was hot, she was single. She hated, she was hated, she loved and she was loved. But the person that no one saw was the woman that wanted everything, the woman who was disorganized, the face of the woman who stayed at home in sweatpants and drank homemade coffee… no they saw the together, the clear headed, the beautifully tailored, the beautifully groomed Rukia Kuchiki. They saw the person that she wanted them to see.

But there was something missing from her high powered lifestyle. Something that she hadn't realized until that very night. Something that was very wrong in her life. As she sat before the blank Word document her eyes grew weary. Where was the fairy tale life she had always dreamed of? Where was the husband and the children that she had wanted when she was 15? Where was the human being that slept next to her and whispered in her ear? Where was the prince charming that thundered through her veins and seethed in her belly? What had happened to the warmth that she had always wanted?

And as she stared at the screen her cold exterior began to melt… and slowly turned into tears that streamed down her face and into her lap. Where was the life that she could write about? She wondered as her eyes stared at the screen. What was she supposed to tell the world? What?

Rukia Kuchiki: An Autobiography

What was her autobiography?

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"Rukia I'm not sure I understand what you're talking about…" Kazumi sipped her coffee as she propped her feet up on the kitchen table that stood within her polished kitchen. The black haired man that stood across the room from her looked over, leaning against the kitchen counter. His piercing cerulean eyes watched her as he sipped from his own mug of coffee. The muscles of his abdomen rippled as he straightened up. The woman across the kitchen from him lifted an eyebrow over her laptop screen at him and tilted her head as she took another drink from the French roast coffee.

"Listen Kazumi… I can't write the autobiography… I'm sorry…" Rukia sighed over the phone and Kazumi lifted an eyebrow again as she clicked on the organizer button on her computer.

"But why? It's your life… just write about your life… please I promised the publisher that you would have it done by next month…" Kazumi leaned back from the table as the man across the room tilted his head back.

"Kazumi I just can't do it right now… sorry… listen I'm going out to shop… if you want to come with then just meet me at my apartment in two hours if not then I'll go out by myself and call you back later." Rukia hung up and Kazumi looked over at the other.

"So she's not going to write it?" The deep baritone spoke again. Uryu Ishida straightened up from leaning his hip against the countertop. The editor-in-chief of the New York Times walked over to his wife slowly and she pursed her lips.

"Nope… she's being stupid about it…" she frowned. The red head wore a pair of rolled plaid pajama bottoms and a white cami-tank beneath a cream colored cardigan that was unbuttoned and hanging from her arms as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Why don't we invite her to come with us to that Christmas party Kaz?" his lips brushed her neck as his arms made their way around her abdomen, his fingers coming to rest on the keyboard of her Mac. She shrugged.

"She won't do it… she's got to be doing something on Christmas… c'mon Uryu get real…" Kazumi leaned back against the chair and against his shoulder, holding the broad mug in both hands.

"Well you never know… maybe this confusion of her will be a good thing don't you think?" Uryu smiled lightly and Kazumi frowned again.

"A good thing? No… if that girl's confused then everyone in the world is going to fall apart because their beloved hero can't fall apart before their eyes." The woman sighed again and his lips brushed her jaw.

"I hate it when you sigh… it just sounds so… boring…" his eyes twinkled from behind the rectangular glasses he wore in the mornings and evenings.

"I hate it when you complain… it just sounds so… unintelligent…" Kazumi snatched his glasses off his face and retreated into the other room before he could even start.

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Uhm… how was that for a good start? I have the second chapter written and I will probably post it later today if you guys want it… I like this one… I hope I can stick to it… Somewhere will be updated soon… I hope and the others… Apost and The Best will be updated when I can moved my 'stiff from the cold' fingers towards that folder to post them… XD

Shalanhe Trouble


	2. Christmas Bah Humbug

**Chapter: **Christmas… Bah Humbug

**Shalan's Say: **Hekkow… OMG I have updated two chapters in two days for the first time in like… how long? FOREVER I THINK! XDDDDD Anyways… other than this I'm also working on Somewhere and The Best… as for Apostando… I'll update it when I get it in me… but right now… I'm obsessed with this story…

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Rukia tapped her foot on the polished wood floor of her apartment, her Jimmy Choo knee high boots were paired with skinny legged jeans which were tucked into the boots. Her thigh length Cache cowl neck sweater was softer than cashmere and died with a fine indigo color. Her black hair was in soft curls pinned back from her face down her back. Her Strawberry Chocolate was held tightly in her palm as she waited. Suddenly the door opened and Kazumi stepped in wearing a pair of jeans and a black shirt from Armani. Her long white pea coat hung to her knees as her shiny white and black heels clicked on the floor.

"I can't believe you came…" Rukia frowned at her and the red head smiled.

"I can't believe you invited me…" Kazumi retorted her smiled warming the room slightly. Rukia smiled softly in return and Kazumi tugged her out the door.

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Rukia shook her head as Kazumi proposed her husband's idea. They stood in Rukia's kitchen, bags littering the floor and counter.

"Absolutely not Kazumi… I can't go to a Christmas party… my brother and sister are coming into town the next day… I can't get slammed and then go pick them up Kaz!" She shook her head and walked off, Kazumi reached out and pulled the brunette's hair. "WAH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Rukia slapped her publicist across the face and Kazumi frowned, folding her arms.

"That was to get your attention idiot…" Kazumi hissed. "You are coming to the party whether you like it or not… Rukia you have got to get out of this house if you ever want to write that biography of yours!" She stamped her foot and made her exit stage right. The smaller woman stomped her own foot and stomped her way into the other room.

"I will NOT!" She slammed her door.

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Uryu leaned back in his chair, his eyes skimming the reports that were on his computer. The cell phone in his hand glowed slightly as he dialed a phone number. A slow tune reminiscent of Frank Sinatra came over the line. He waited patiently for the song to end and his eyebrow twitched.

"Leave a message!" A friendly voice sang then the familiar automatic voice came over the line. Uryu hung up the phone and set it on the counter. If he was going to call back then he would call back. He looked up as he heard the door slam.

"Kazumi?" he called and the red head stormed into the room and immediately planted herself in his lap. "Oh… okay… why?" He blinked as she settled her legs on either side of his lap, burying her face into his chest.

"I need you to just be quiet and hold me…" Kazumi demanded and Uryu blinked but obliged, wrapping his arms around his wife gently.

Several minutes later Uryu felt her shift and saw her head lift up. "Are you alright now?" He asked softly, tilting an eyebrow.

"Yeah… I'm sorry… I just got all worked up about Rukia and her idiosyncrasies…" Kazumi pressed her face into the crook of his neck and took in a deep breath. The scent of his Hugo Boss filled her senses again and she nipped the tender skin just behind his ear.

"You have got to stop doing that… I'm not going to have any bodily fluids left…" he smiled just before she kissed him, slowly, deeply, mind-blowingly slow. This was the exact reason that he had married her, because no matter what she did he always received a long kiss that blew his mind completely out of whack. His senses went haywire and his body thrummed with happy pleasure.

"Sorry…" she breathed as their lips met again. That was when it happened, something that made him want to cry, the cell phone that had been docilely sitting on the desk of the study came alive.

"He-hello?" Uryu choked, trying to catch his breath.

"Ishida! You call me and then you don't leave a message you dumbass…" The deep voice on the other line was playful at best, angry at worst but Uryu figured it was the former rather than the latter as that was what the other was more prone to.

"Sorry… I was busy doing some other things… didn't mean to leave you hanging in suspense…" Uryu chuckled.

"Ah… I see so what was it that you brought me out of my chambers for?" The other laughed.

"I was wondering… if maybe you would be interested in coming to the annual Christmas Ball… you came last year and as I remember you loved it…" Uryu smiled over at his wife who lifted an eyebrow slightly before smiling happily and continuing to unbutton his shirt with a content look on her face.

"I don't think I belong there with all of you stuffed shirts. You guys just blow me out of the water."

"C'mon… you know there'll be plenty of girls there…" Uryu pleaded as his wife planted a line of kisses down his chest and stomach. "Will you at least consider it?"

"Alright… let Monet and I think about it and I'll call you back okay?"

"Tell Monet hello for me…" Uryu tossed the phone across the room before yanking his wife up into a steamy lip lock. "Didn't I tell you not to-do…" She pushed him back against the chair before he could finish his sentence.

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Rukia sat on the ground of her apartment, a pillow rolled in her lap as she sang along with the Jonas Brothers on Disney Channel. She bounced lightly as she bobbed from side to side, her long black hair in braided pigtails over her shoulders. "…we are wild we are free we are more than you think…so call us freaks… 'cause that's just the way we roll…" She grinned as she rocked, laughing with herself.

A bark echoed through the room and Rukia slid in a circle just as the white Samoyed pummeled into her. "WAAAH!" A tongue assaulted her face as she laughed, the fluffy white dog licking at her face as though it were a piece of good rawhide bone. "LOVE!" She chuckled before wrapping her arms around the dog's neck. The cold charcoal colored nose ran against her throat and shoulders and she laughed, running her hands through the dog's soft hair. "Hey girl… where have you been all day huh?" She pressed her forehead to the dog's only to have Love buck her head to lick her owner's face again. "Hey! Calm down! I'm happy to see you too!" Rukia laughed then fell back onto her back as her cell phone rang.

Love ran off for a minute after the rubber ball that Rukia threw as her own dove for the phone. "HIII!" She squealed before her brother could even take in a breath to speak. "Howareyoudoing?IsHisanaalright?AreyouguysstillcomingforChristmas?"

"Could you repeat that in normal Japanese instead of teenager?" Her brother's sarcastic voice came over the line.

"Oh sorry I didn't realize I had to learn how to speak retard for you…" Rukia quipped in return.

"Enough enough how are you doing?" His voice softened. She heard his voice change and she smiled softly. He was such a brother.

"I'm alright… just bored out of my mind because I didn't have anything to do today…" Rukia sighed as Love came back, happily carrying the blue rubber ball. Rukia took it and tossed it absently over her shoulder. The white fuzz ball took off after it the moment it left her hand.

"Oh poor you, the high and mighty queen of society got a free day…" Byakuya teased. She smiled lightly, he was in a good mood, she could tell… otherwise he wouldn't be teasing her.

"Shut your face before I put my fist in it," Rukia snapped back.

"You just don't know what to do when you don't have something planned… why don't you try relaxing a little and maybe… oh I don't know… taking a break from your escapades for a while…" Byakuya advised.

"Bya-nee…" She looked out the window to her apartment. "There's nothing to do other than what I'm used to doing…"

"Why don't you try staying in bed past 6 AM… or even past 1 PM… stay home and watch movies or you know… being lazy for once in your life… because someday… you'll find a time when you don't want to get out of bed… and you'll find a time when you just want to lie around the house all day…"

"Thank you Dr. Phil…"

"I'm serious Rukia…" Byakuya lowered his tone. "Please consider resting before you work yourself to death alright?" Her brother almost sounded as though he were pleading.

"I promise… I'll think about it… so are you two still coming here for Christmas or what?" Rukia changed the subject, after all, all men were bastards.

"Only if you go to the Christmas party for Kazumi…" Bya grinned into the phone.

"BYA!"

"Rukia! Please go to the party and enjoy yourself…" She heard her older sister's voice over the phone.

"But Hisana… I really don't want to go… I know I won't enjoy myself…" Rukia huffed.

"Rukia please… for me… go to the party and try and enjoy yourself…" Rukia made to hang up the phone. "AND DON'T GET DRUNK!" Rukia pressed the off button just as her dog hurdled towards her, all tongue.

"AAAAH! WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?"

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Howdy… Uhm here's the second chapter… the third is in the works as you read XP read and review por favor (means please)…

Shalan


	3. A Little More You

**Chapter: **A Little More You

**Shalan's Say: **YAY! I already like this chapter… just to let you know… the lemons in this story… will be frequent… but for the most part most of it is half written but I will at least try to have four fully fledged grapefruits for you XDDD

**WARNING:** SOME ADULT CONTENT

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Rukia frowned slightly as she stood in front of her full length mirror, her hands on her hips. "This dress makes me look fat…" she yanked it off over her head, tossing the black dress onto her bed as she stalked into her closet. She couldn't believe she had agreed to this.

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Somewhere on the other side of town he stared at the mirror in front of him, tugging his suit jacket forward slightly. He grimaced. "I hate suits…" he muttered then looked over as he heard a whimper. "Oh be quiet… you two don't have to wear suits…" he grumbled at the Irish Setters. One, with big brown eyes and a smattered white and red coat walked after his master while the other sat down to wait.

"This has got to be his most ridiculous idea ever…" Ichigo frowned. Ichigo Kurosaki looked at himself in the mirror for another moment before furrowing his brow and shaking his head. He blinked a couple of times before reaching up and messing up his normally spiky orange hair.

Across the room his cell phone vibrated its way across the counter before he realized it was ringing. His eyes looked mournfully over at the Black Code by Giorgio Armani before he retreated into his bathroom to answer the cell phone. "Kurosaki."

"ICHIGO! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?" He heard his best friend's voice over the line and the artist shook his head, tangling his fingers through his hair.

"Not there…" He looked over at the two setters… doing what they were supposed to do… sitting…

"OBVIOUSLY! HURRY UP WILL YOU?" Uryu sounded furious and Ichigo grimaced lightly before leaning against the wall.

"I don't know what to wear…" Ichigo confessed and he heard a groan from the other line.

"PUT CLOTHES ON AND HURRY UP!" Uryu fumed and hung up the phone. Ichigo lifted his upper lip and made a face at the phone with a growl.

"Damn he's like having a wife…" Ichigo shrugged before his cell phone rang again. "Hello Kisuke…" His manager and long time friend Kisuke Urahara was supposed to be picking up his paintings within the next six months. He was pumped to finish painting them and get them on the show schedule.

"ICHIGO! How are you?" Kisuke laughed over the phone. "I heard you're a little late to Uryu's party thingy…"

"Yeah… I'm a little late so he throws a shit fit…" Ichigo sighed.

"You are coming aren't you?" Kisuke blinked over at his wife who shrugged.

"Yeah… I'll be there in a few…" Ichigo growled and hung up the phone. "I'm turning that DAMN thing OFF!" Ichigo stormed out of the room. "Okay guys… I'm going out for a while… please don't crap on the floor or destroy my paintings… anything else is within bounds." He spoke to the two dogs. "Manet… please don't decide that the remote is a chew toy this time…" he looked at the white and crimson setter. "And Monet… you are going to be chained to your kennel if I find out you've eaten my pastels again… so be good alright?" He turned his attention to the pure scarlet setter. He rubbed both dogs on their heads and walked out of the house.

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Rukia sighed as she walked through the crowd, her head already a little fogged from the champagne she'd been drinking. Men paused in their conversations to ask her to dance, the beautiful Asian woman with the soft lavender dress. Her long sleeved, off-the-shoulder lavender silk dress was formfitting and had a pulled tassel of soft fabric hanging down from just below the waist Roman style. Her black hair hung in curls down near her waist. Then something caught her eye.

Ichigo laughed, his hand in his pocket, the champagne glass in his hand was counting his 6th and he was loving it. He chuckled with a couple of other men about something that had happened in a football game earlier in the year. Suddenly a hand touched his elbow.

"Excuse me…" A soft voice tingled in his ears. Ichigo turned around to see a petite woman in a beautiful lavender gown. Not to say that the woman herself wasn't beautiful. Her bright blue eyes bored into his as azure met amber.

"Hi there…" Ichigo wanted to slap himself. A beautiful woman talks to him and all he can muster is 'Hi there'? What the hell was wrong with him?

"I was wondering if you wanted to dance… after all… you're much better looking than the rest of the men here…" She caught Uryu's eye. "Except my agent's beautiful husband…" Uryu grinned over at his wife who frowned which caused his face to sink back to normal while the other men laughed at him.

"Sure… I guess I can do that…" Ichigo smiled and took her hand. "I'm afraid I didn't catch your name…" Well duh… she didn't tell me… Ichigo wanted to slap himself again.

"Rukia… Kuchiki…" She smiled and he smiled back, and he was sure he looked stupid.

"I'm…" You forgot your name? He mentally kicked himself in the ass.

"Clueless?" Rukia chuckled and he shook his head.

"Alcohol saturated… Ichigo Kurosaki…" He smiled down at her. She nodded.

"Nice to meet you Ichigo Kurosaki… now… can you dance?" She pulled his hands to her waist before latching her arms around his neck.

"I can dance…" He nearly tripped over his own two feet. I'm a dumbass… he kicked himself again. After two songs and four more glasses of champagne for both later Rukia stared up at him.

"Are you gay?" She fluttered her eyelashes and Ichigo gave a hearty laugh.

"Yes I'm perfectly happy…"

"I meant are you homosexual?" She wanted to roll her eyes.

"Moi? No way… I'm perfect…" Her lips met his in a searing kiss that knocked him off his feet. His mind whirled and his senses shut down until the only thing he could feel was her lips against his. His heart stopped, his wheels spinning in the dirt. It was then that he decided that he was taking this girl home. His eyes opened when she pulled away.

"That's good…"

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He slammed her back up against the door, their lips clashing in a passionate lip lock. His fingers easily unzipped the back of her dress just before he had to open the door to his house. He unlocked the door and kicked off his shoes, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. It had been a while since anyone, especially a woman, had been inside of his house and it had been even longer since a woman had been in his bed, but at the moment he didn't care.

"Fuck…" he breathed against her lips as her fingers unzipped his suit pants. She wasn't going to wait very long. He dropped her to her feet and stripped her dress from her body, hooking his fingers into her underwear before he stripped her of that as well. His eyes barely got a glimpse of her magnificent body before her legs were latched around his waist again, her soaked core pressed tightly against his manhood, causing his eyes to roll back into his head.

He had to get out of the remaining piece of clothing between him and his goal. He dropped her back against his bed before sinking himself into his goal, his head jerked back as he slid into her moist hollow passage. Her fingers dragged him down into a furious kiss that left them both gasping for air before she pinned him to his own bed.

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Her eyes opened slowly, not registering where she was she shot up, looking around just before the thunderous ache of a hangover slammed into her head, knocking her back onto her back. She closed one eye and looked over then nearly screamed but clapped her own hand over her mouth before she could. The man lying next to her was sound asleep. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief before getting out of the bed. She looked around and remembered where she was. She had gone home with a man from the party.

Then she looked over and saw two dogs sleeping together on the floor. She smiled and opened his closet, inside were shirts of various wear and paint smattered glory. She frowned and pulled one off a hanger and turned around. If he had talked a drunken woman into his bed then he could spare a shirt. She walked into the bathroom and shut the door, causing Manet's head to lift up from its resting place on his blanket mate's flank.

When she walked out she noticed that the two dogs had left but their owner was still sound asleep in his bed. She smiled softly and walked out of the room. She felt odd. She had never felt so comfortable around someone she didn't know before. Maybe it was because he had seen her naked. But then again… she had had another one night stand before and she ran out of there without even saying another word to him. This time… she almost… didn't want to leave.

After looking around in every cupboard in the house she finally found the coffee and coffee pot, brewing a pot of steaming French roast. She poured herself a cup and leaned against the counter, looking around the house. It was then she noticed a long pole protruding from the floor. She walked over to it and looked up only to see a face looking back at her with a curious expression.

"You have a pole in your house…" she told him as he grabbed onto it, sliding down to land in front of her.

"It used to be a firehouse… when they built a new one I bought it… and fixed it up…" She nodded as her eyes scanned his body. He wore a pair of old faded jeans that hung extremely low on his etched hips. She figured he had just pulled them on without underwear because she could see the line of wiry hair down his navel leading to the edge of his jeans.

"Wow… you seem like quite the guy Mr. Kurosaki…" her blue eyes dimmed as he smiled. His beautiful amber eyes glittered in the bright light of the kitchen.

"I guess I am Miss Kuchiki…" He smiled down at her. "Nice shirt by the way… ever heard of a little something called personal privacy?"

"Me? Personal privacy? Those words aren't in my vocabulary…" She teased as he backed her up against the counter.

"What are you still doing here? Most of the time after one night stands don't you leave?" He whispered darkly, their lips separated by little more than a centimeter. She tasted him on her lips again and felt her legs tremble.

"I was curious… after all… no one's ever…" his lips met hers tenderly, slowly, intoxicatingly. Her body responded and she felt her skin tingle as his hand gently rested against her thigh. Jesus he made her mind go blank.

"Ever what?" He whispered between kisses, their foreheads pressed together.

"I don't remember…" her reply was muffled by his lips before she pulled herself up, wrapping her legs around his waist.

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She sat in the airport, her elbow on the armrest, her fist against the side of her head. She was staring blankly at the clear screen that was between herself and the airport gate. Her eyes were glazed and her expression dreamy as she thought back to the few hours before she had arrived at the airport. The taste of his lips still lingering in her mouth.

The last kiss on his doorstep before she stepped into her taxi, the kiss that neither wanted to break. It was a whispered promise of what was to come. And it seemed to her that the one night stand that it had been had turned into something else… she felt her heart flutter. Maybe she would have something to write about in that biography of hers after all.

"…Rukia… _Ruuuukia_… **RUKIA**!" The brunette was knocked out of her daydream and onto the armrest of the cold metal seat, her forehead coming in clear contact with a loud CRACK. "Ah… so you're awake…" Hisana smiled at her and Rukia shook her head. She had been so drawn up in her thoughts that she hadn't even noticed her sister and her husband.

"Hi-Hisana… Byakuya…" She stood up as her sister giggled. "What?"

"You had that look… who is he?" Hisana chuckled and Rukia hit her sister on the arm.

"Stupid… leave me alone…" Rukia blushed scarlet while her sister laughed harder. So she had been spaced out… damn him…

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So how was that for a third chapter? XDDDD I know some of you are like… ONE NIGHT STANDS DON'T TURN INTO LOVE… but this is MMMMYYYY world… I can do whatever I want XDDD

OMG TWO UPDATES IN ONE DAY? WHAT HAVE YOU ALL DONE TO DESERVE THIS?

Shalan


	4. Dinner Date

**Chapter: **Dinner Date

**Shalan's Say: **OMG WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH ME? I have officially written four chapters in… a matter of 36 hours… there is something the matter I think… but anyways… I'm in Personal Finance and I've been waiting all day to write again so I'm writing right now… I hope you enjoy this chapter…

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Rukia giggled, lightly. "Ichigo… stop…" she muttered under her breath. "Ichigo…" her hand reached over to hit the offender and instead of the muscular body she had meant to hit she instead came in contact with a soft wooly coat. "LOVE!" She yelped, her face covered in slobber. She had been dreaming again.

"Love I hate you…" she rubbed the dog's head just before she received another slobbery kiss on the face.

"That's an oxymoron in itself…" She looked up at her sister who stood in the doorway.

"Hisana… good morning…" Rukia yawned.

"So… who is Ichigo?" Her sister smiled deviously.

"Wha? Who?" Rukia blinked. Her sister and her brother in law had been visiting her in the United States for nearly a week now and two of those nights she had disappeared out to meet Ichigo in various dance clubs… usually ending up in their arrival at his house.

"So is Ichigo… your mysterious friend?" Hisana smiled.

"Uhm… yeah… she is…" Rukia lied… sort of. Ichigo was a woman's name in Japan so it would be easier just to use his name and pretend he was a woman, after all… her brother-in-law wasn't called Bya-nii for nothing.

"Ah… I'm so happy you made some friends other than your dog and your TV screen." Hisana smiled. Rukia knew her sister wasn't stupid… but she sure was glad that she was trusting…

"She's pretty cool… sorry we've been just like best friends for a while now… so we get together and act like teenagers and giggle…" Rukia smiled. Boy she was getting good at lying.

"That's good… I'm so happy for you… Byakuya and I are going out to Long Island for a few days to visit a friend of mine… I would invite you but they just asked us…"

"Awe it's okay Hisana… I have to get back to work soon anyways…" Rukia shrugged. It was true; she had an interview on Good Morning America the next morning.

"Okay… we'll be leaving tomorrow morning… why dno't you invite Ichigo over for diner… I'd like to meet her…" Hisana trotted out of the room and Rukia reached for her. Damn… damndamndamndamndamn… she had to find someone that Hisana didn't know who would be willing to… Rukia's face lit up. There was only one person for the job.

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"Hello?" Miyako picked up the phone. She smiled a little as she heard her best friend's voice. "Rukia, it's been a while girl…"

"Miyako… I have a job for you…" Rukia leaned back onto her plush white bed, her dog resting her head in Rukia's lap.

"What is it?" Miyako flipped a pancake into the air and onto the plate in front of her husband. An accomplished actress on Broadway Miyako was the perfect one for the job that Rukia had at hand.

"I would like you to act for me…"

"Oh really? Shakespeare or what?" Miyako smiled. But she knew exactly what the petite brunette had in mind.

"I want you to act like my best friend. We've met only recently… and we've been laughing and giggling every night we're together… like when we were in college together…"

"But we did go to college together…" Miyako chuckled and she could hear her best friend audibly sigh. "So who is he?"

"His name is Ichigo…"

"That's convenient… so your brother and sister are in town then?" Miyako smiled over at her husband as she sat down. Kaien Shiba smiled back.

"HI KAIEN!" Rukia shouted and Kaien laughed. Rukia opened the cabinet to her own kitchen as she spoke. "I spent the night at his house two nights ago and four nights ago… not to mention the night after Kazumi's ridiculous party…"

"Oh wow… so you met him at the party? Well then he must be rich… I'm coming over to help you pick out your outfit for tonight and you can tell me all about it…" Miyako squealed and hung up before Rukia could say another word. Rukia smiled at the phone. Miyako knew the plan all too well.

Suddenly her cell phone vibrated. She blinked over at it and then dove before her dog could reach it. "Rukia speaking, who is this?" She asked into the phone.

"It's Ichigo…"

"Why in the hell are you calling me from a pay phone?" Rukia blinked.

"I despise my cell phone…" Came the reply. Rukia shook her head.

"So what happened to it?"

"I tossed it out the window this morning… it landed in my neighbor's water fountain…" Ichigo grinned, his hands in his pockets. He was holding the phone with his jaw and shoulder. "I was thinking about going and getting one… but that would make my agent all too happy…" Rukia laughed.

"Wow… you are most certainly a danger to cell phones… you know that right?" Rukia laughed.

"At least I don't have six of them…"

"Yeah… just in case I get bored of one…" Rukia shrugged then looked at her phone. She had changed her phone to her T-Mobile Sidekick iD.

"You are too rich for your own good…anyways… how would you feel about dinner tonight?" His voice softened and Rukia felt her heart leap. Just hearing his voice… made the butterflies in her stomach tremble then the trembling butterflies came to an abrupt halt.

"I can't do it…" She bit her bottom lip.

"What? Why?" Ichigo's voice sounded disappointed.

"I have my sister and her husband here… remember?" She heard him groan. "Get over yourself…" She chuckled.

"Right… but I wanted to see you tonight…" He sounded almost pleading and she could just see the amber eyes getting bigger.

"I know… and I want to see you… but I just can't ditch my in-law and sister…" Rukia leaned back against the fridge, closing her eyes.

"You're a 22 year old woman… you can do whatever you want…" Ichigo tried to coax her.

"I'm also the youngest member of a high ranking family in Japan… and if I get caught with a painter that hasn't been approved by the council of elders my family will probably bring back public hangings just for us…" she said sarcastically, but there was serious tone behind it.

"You make fun of my profession?" He tried to sound miffed.

"I make fun of your profession…" She replied with a choked laugh. "Now I have to go…"

"Rukia… at least meet me for lunch?"

"Coffee… and a croissant down at that little café you like…" she smiled and heard him scoff.

"You mean my kitchen right? After all it's the only place to get a good fresh croissant these days…" She laughed at him again.

"I'll bring Miyako by and I'll introduce you… and maybe we can teach you some manners…"

"Maybe I can teach you how to be a bad girl miss goody two shoes…" He smiled before hanging up. Rukia sighed heavily, pressing the phone to her heart. He was just too cute for his own good.

&&&

"So… How old is he?" Miyako smiled as they walked along 5th Avenue. Rukia looked into a store just before walking in.

"26…" Rukia picked up a pair of shoes before setting them back down.

"Oooh… older men are your thing now?" Miyako giggled and Rukia frowned. "What does he do for a living?"

"He's a painter…" Rukia smiled softly, examining another shoe before looking for her size.

"A-a what?" She nearly choked on her latte as Rukia straightened up to look at her.

"He's a freelance painter…" Rukia smiled. "Well actually he's more of just an artist… he's a photographer too…"

"Oh I see… he must be a photographer for some big magazine right?" Rukia shook her head and Miyako choked again.

"He's just a freelance artist… nothing more, nothing less…" She smiled pleasantly before leaning down and tucking her feet into the shoes.

"You know how pissed your brother would be?" Miyako told her quietly.

"Yeah… that's what you're for Miya…" Rukia retorted. "I want you to pretend to be him… well not him but you know what I mean… if I don't date someone that my family finds appropriate then I'm going to lose everything… my sister… my brother… my life… not to mention… the press… if the media got a hold of this they would have a field day…" Rukia whispered hurriedly.

"You are one crazy woman you know? First you take on the impossible… then you take on the world… what's next?"

"I'm going to eat your head…" Rukia replied matter-of-factly. Miyako laughed as Rukia carried the shoes to the counter.

"Your mouth isn't big enough… so how is he?" Miyako lifted her eyebrows.

"He's… WHAT? What kind of a question is that?" Rukia looked flabbergasted. Miyako chuckled as Rukia ran her credit card through the machine and signed.

"I was just curious…" Miyako said innocently. Rukia scoffed and walked out of the store, bags in hand.

"Just curious my ass…" The argued, all the way down the street, into the taxi and all the way to Ichigo's house. The girls even argued all the way to his front door. Rukia pointing out that no one asks even their best friends about their sex life in public.

"Whoa whoa… I didn't realize I was getting two for the price of one…" Ichigo smiled. Rukia brightened immediately as he lowered himself for a kiss, wrapping his arms around her, easily slipping his hands into the back pockets of her jeans. She yelped into him mouth when he squeezed lightly, their lips involved in a deep kiss. Jesus he made her body sing.

"Heh-loh… I didn't think you two were that deep in…" Miyako stated a few minutes later when she was led into his firehouse turned home.

"Sorry… it's been a while since I've seen her…" Ichigo smiled over at Rukia who flushed and smiled back.

"I see…" Miyako smiled over at Rukia who was looking lovingly over at Ichigo. Miyako had seen that look before. Her best friend was already falling for this painter of hers.

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TAA! I have acrylic nails on right now… we have Homecoming this Saturday… and it sucks trying to type with these damn things so please ignore typos XDDD

Shalan


	5. Picture Us Together

**Chapter: **Picture Us Together

**Shalan's Say: **Hey gang. It's taken me a while to update this one… you've got two chapters coming at you, this one and then another… where is Rukia's fling going to take her this time? I have no idea… but it's gonna be a fun ride huh? The other should be posted tomorrow… if not I give you the right to throw things at me…

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She rolled over, her eyes cracking into the bright morning light. Her hand reached over and gently stroked the side of his face. Rough with morning beard her fingers brushed along the stubble and she traced her thumb across his lips, her eyes locked onto the soft flesh. She dragged her fingers through his hair softly, planting a kiss on those lips. His eyes fluttered open, then his lips moved against hers.

"'Morning…" she whispered as he touched the tips of their noses together, letting their lips brush. She captured his lips in hers as his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her petite form against his body. Shock suddenly set in, her body went numb. She was having a tender moment. This was wrong. She wasn't in love with him. She couldn't have feelings for him… they were just friends. They just went to each other for sex. Sex. Just the physical act… that she had been addicted to since she had met him.

"Something wrong?" He planted another kiss on her lips and she melted into him. He closed his eyes. Having her in his arms was the most beautiful thing he had ever felt. Being able to stroke his fingers along her spine, feeling her tremble under his touch. Until she had come into his life art had lost its meaning to him. Being caught in these moments made his fingers work their magic, and suddenly he was able to sketch, paint and photograph things again, his heart beat for only one reason anymore. Just to hear her voice every day, whether it be on the telephone or from the warmth of his arms, her voice, her touch, her love was what he lived for… and he loved it.

"Nothing… I was just thinking…" she closed her eyes and felt him sit up, his back to her. Her eyes fluttered open again and she sat up as he pulled his jeans up to his knees. She knelt behind him and kissed his shoulder, wrapping her arms around his waist. Her lips travelled up the crook of his neck to his ear. He chuckled as she bit his ear lobe playfully then sucked lightly, his lids trembling lightly open and closed.

"Stop that…" he laughed as she swung herself easily into his lap, her legs straddling his lap. Her lips came in contact with his collar bone, somewhere near the side of his neck. He felt her suck lightly, then slightly harder and he groaned. "Honestly… I have some-where…" their lips met. She was so persistent.

"I know… but that means I have to leave too…" she whispered and he smiled softly, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I know but don't you have some kind of an interview today?" Ichigo nodded towards the neatly pressed suit in the corner of the room.

"SHIT!" She grabbed her underwear off the floor, pulling it on as he chuckled again, buttoning the bottom button of his jeans only as he stood up. She looked over at him, her eyes locking onto the chiseled upper body. Pectorals protruding slightly above a lean, concave abdomen, riddled with muscle. Powerful biceps flexed as he folded his arms, one orange eyebrow cocked at a jaunty angle. Her eyes caught a glimpse of the golden bronze hair trailing down his stomach and navel. She nearly shook her head.

"You have to go… stop looking at me and go!" He shooed her out and she jumped, pulling on her suit and running his comb through her hair.

"Tonight? Dinner at Sardie's?" She whispered as his arms wrapped around her Prada clad body. He nodded, pressing his forehead to hers.

"I'll pick you up at 8?" He muttered as her fingers dragged through his hair again. She nodded as their lips met again, each breathing the other's air.

"I'll see you then…" she pulled away reluctantly.

"I'll see you on TV…" He smiled as she turned to walk out the door. "I love you…" he continued and for a moment she paused then kept walking.

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_"So Miss __Kuchiki__… is there anyone special in your life right now?" Robin Roberts smiled, her legs folded to one side._

_"Not really. I'm so busy with working on publicity__ and dealing with people that I don't have much time to date… but I will make sure to let you know when I do find someone…" Rukia smiled as they cut._

"No one special in your life?" Ichigo poked her ribs and she giggled girlishly, jumping away. They had gone out to eat dinner earlier and then retreated back to his house, to snuggle under a plush down blanket together and watch her interview on Good Morning America.

"Nope…" she smiled but it had been bothering her all day… why had he said that?

Even as she curled up under the blankets of her bedroom later that evening it bothered her. She closed her eyes and suddenly there he was, burning an image into the back of her eyelids. She squeezed her eyes shut trying hard not to see him anymore.

_"I love you…"_ he whispered in her ear. Though he wasn't there. She heard his voice, felt his presence, his breath on her neck. Her stomach sunk. Why was she thinking about him so much?

_"I love you…"_ she felt her skin prick. He was haunting her… and he was on the other side of the city.

_"I love you…"_

"WHY?? WHY DO YOU LOVE ME?" She screamed at no one in particular, thrashing in her bed. Her heart pounded, her body aching. She saw them, curled together in his bed, forever. She could see herself marrying him. She could see herself loving him. "But I don't love him…"

_"I love you…"_

"LOVE? WHAT DOES LOVE MEAN?" She slammed her hand down and yelped, seeing the light on her cell phone turn on and she blinked through the darkness, pulling it up. "What?" Her heart sunk down into the pit of her stomach which fell to her feet.

…it was impossible what was going through her mind. There was no way… how could she have missed it? Her body went numb. It would happen… a little late… there was no way… she jumped out of the bed and slipped her feet into the Jimmy Choos by the door and walked out of the house in her pajamas.

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Ichigo placed a simple dot on the picture with his brush, putting the finishing touch on the picture he had been painting. Her body gleamed in the midnight light, shining with a ghostly blue hue. The sheet that had been artfully wrapped around one leg to hide part of her hip. Her flat stomach was taut and he could almost see it trembling. Her arms thrown above her head on the roman couch, her long black hair spilling across the white. Her modest breasts were stretched slightly flat as she watched him mysteriously.

"I love you…" he whispered and kissed his fingers, touching them to the painting. It had been only a few months since he had talked her into modeling for him but they had finished quite a few paintings… and he believed that they were his best yet.

"How is my favorite painter lately?" A voice spoke from behind him and he turned around, only to see Kisuke standing there with his arms folded.

"Kisuke!" Ichigo grinned and offered a hug to his manager. Kisuke obliged and hugged his protégé.

"You appear to be doing better than ever… I was worried abou…" he stopped midsentence as he caught sight of Rukia's picture.

"No Kisuke…" Ichigo warned. "Those paintings are off limits." His amber eyes flashed lightly as Kisuke walked over to it.

"But Ichigo it's beautiful… why can't I show it… and who's the model?" Kisuke scanned the picture.

"I know she's beautiful, but I promised her that I wouldn't let you show them…" he told the blonde.

"Who is she? Maybe I can talk her into it… because Ichigo…" Kisuke turned to him. "These are your best… do you even have anything else you've painted recently?"

"Yes…" Ichigo led him into an alternate room. But all that Kisuke was thinking about was the beautiful paintings in the other rooms. He would have to ask if he could put them on display.

"These are nice…" Kisuke motion to a set of canal at sunset paintings while his other hand was busy with Monet and Manet. "Oh I know… you two missed Uncle Kisuke didn't you?" He spoke in a little voice.

"You are so strange… anyways… you can use any of these… but Kisuke don't use the ones of that woman… if you do she will probably never speak to me again…" Ichigo looked off to the side and felt his heart break thinking about it.

"Alright, alright tiger…" Kisuke smiled lightly and ruffled Ichigo's hair. "I promise I won't put them on display… but if you change your mind the offer is open alright?" Kisuke grinned and Ichigo's eyes darkened.

"You swear?"

"I swear on Yoruichi's life that I won't put them up on display… leave it to me alright?" Kisuke smiled and Ichigo ducked his head.

"Thanks Kisuke… wanna drink while you're here? Maybe I'll tell you about her…" Ichigo walked into the other room and Kisuke followed, a grin spread across his face.

"So how long have you been dating her?" Kisuke grasped a glass of wine in his hand.

"About 6 months…" Ichigo replied. He smiled into his glass. Six beautiful months with her had made his entire life sparkle.

"You sure are in love with this girl aren't you?" Kisuke chuckled and Ichigo frowned.

"We just started dating Kisuke…" Ichigo defended himself but it nagged at him again. Why had he told her he loved her? Had it just slipped out… had he meant it… was he serious? He wanted to beat himself upside the head. He had probably alienated her. He looked out the window into the midsummer moonlight. May was such a beautiful month… just like Rukia… he shook his head.

"Yeah… but I can already tell… you're falling for her…" Kisuke smiled at him and Ichigo frowned again. He couldn't get her out of his head.

"I…I…" the carrot-top hung his head. "I guess you're right aren't you?" He closed his eyes. He was falling in love with her… and for some strange reason… it felt so right… that he didn't ask any questions.

As he waved goodbye to Kisuke he shut his door and leaned against it. Why was it that he could picture them spending the rest of their lives together? Weren't they just dating right now? Weren't they just getting to know each other…? Funny thing was… he felt like he already knew everything there was to know about her.

A knock at his door and he opened it, thinking it was Kisuke again. "What do you wan-t…" he froze as Rukia's eyes met his. She looked… stressed… tired… and then some.

"I-I-I…" she held up the item that she held clenched in her fist and he stared at her… and the only thing that could come to mind was…

_'…fuck…'_


	6. Shut Up And Let Me Go

**Chapter: **Shut Up And Let Me Go

**Shalan's Say: **Hiya… I won't dally here's the next chapter FINALLY!!!!!

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Rukia walked the streets of New York. She wandered far and wide, looking into the stores of Fifth Avenue. Even buying a couple of things. But her mind wasn't on what she was doing. Her brain was filled with everything that had happened in the past 48 hours.

_'How the hell is it possible that you find out you're fucked AND insane in a matter of 48 hours?'_ She threw her metaphorical proverbial hands up. Then she snorted a slight laugh_. 'Boy if that's not an oxymoron I don't know what is…_' She smiled lightly as she stared into a Prada store.

"Rukia Kuchiki…" She stopped as she heard a familiar voice. She swung around to see Ichigo standing behind her. Her eyes softened and she felt tears prick at her eyes. She buried her face into his chest, not caring who was watching. He wrapped his arms around her and led her into a small coffee shop at the end of the street. He bought her a coffee and set her down in one corner of the dimly lit coffee house.

"Ichigo…" she leaned against him, the coffee cup in her hand. He smiled, bringing her under his arm. She closed her eyes as his arm wrapped around her waist, bringing a hand to rest on her navel. She leaned into him harder and he sighed.

"What are you going to do…" he asked seriously. She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "I mean… now that the entertainment world thinks they know what's going on… and now that you're…" he choked lightly. She looked away.

"I haven't thought about it much…" she lied.

"You're lying… tell me the truth…" he placed a hand gently on the side of her face and she looked up at him. He smiled lightly.

"I don't know…" She closed her eyes tightly before he pulled her over to rest her cheek against his chest. She took in a deep breath of his scent and it relaxed her.

"I love you, Rukia…" he whispered and she squeezed her eyes tightly. He kissed the top of her head and she felt tears prick in her eyes. "We could live together… I'll take care of you…" he whispered and she looked up at him.

"Why Ichigo?" Her moist eyes met his. He smiled softly and brushed her hair away from her face.

"Because… I love you… aren't you listening to me…" his ocher eyes were soft and dark. She was torn between the feeling in her stomach and the feeling in her chest… an unfortunate combination.

"Ichigo… I… don't want to have to have lied to the public and my fans… I'll look like a fool…" his lips captured hers and she closed her eyes. "I can't…" she whispered as his fingers traced their way down her face. "I can't do this anymore…" He stared at her blankly. "This has to end." She stood up… "Forget me… and forget we ever did anything…" she turned. He reached out to catch her hand but she jerked away then broke into a run, he could see the tears streaming down her face. He stood up and ran out into the street, looking around him.

"RUKIA! RUKIAA!" He shouted, whirling around, peering over the heads of the people around him.

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"YOU LOST HER!" Kisuke slammed his fists against the table as Ichigo sulked across from him. "How could you LOSE her?"

"She just disappeared into the crowd…" His amber eyes dimmed in the dim light of the once bright kitchen. His paint smattered fingers were not from painting, instead he had spent the entire afternoon shredding every painting he had created he could get his hands on. Not even his photographs of her were safe. He let his rage flare against his chest and bleed out his hands. She had merely walked away from him…

"So you did this?" Kisuke sounded incredulous as he waved his hand around the room at the shredded mess.

"Yeah…" Ichigo sighed heavily.

"You… are a nut case…" Kisuke shook his head as he blinked around at the mess in front of him, including Ichigo.

"Yeah she probably thinks that too…" he let his forehead rest on the refinished table. They were seated on stools in the middle of the kitchen's hardwood floors that had been painted by he and Rukia on a whim when they had found them at an auction.

Kisuke watched his client's shoulders roll forwards in defeat and smacked the young man aside the head. "Bastard!"

"Oi! Watch it!" Ichigo looked shocked then blinked as Kisuke smiled.

"You need to do something about this deal that you're messing with." Kisuke smiled and Ichigo nodded.

"But what can I do to convince her that she loves me?"

"Nothing. So you have to just keep yourself in her mind…"

"Right… out of sight out of mind, yeah?"

"Right, so if you're not out of sight…"

"I'm not out of mind." Ichigo grinned devilishly. "Kisuke, I love you."

"Okay, you say that waaaay too easily…" Kisuke grinned and mussed Ichigo's hair.

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She curled into a tighter ball on her couch and buried her face into her pillow. Tears soaked her face, streaking her make-up down her face. The white silk couch she sat on had clothes and shoes and other objects strewn across it. She knew she could have it cleaned but it didn't seem to matter. She slid a hand to the remote next to her and changed the channel. She was tired of seeing telenovelas… Mexican television was very nearly the only thing on during the daytime… they were too much like her real life…

"This is Rukia, leave a message!" She heard her own voice on the answering machine. None of the calls to her home in three months had been from the one she wanted them to be from.

"Rukia! It's Kazumi, what are you doing? You won't answer my calls. You won't answer your door! I'm about to get a locksmith over to your place! Now call me back or I'll hunt you down!" The machine beeped and Rukia lifted her head. She probably should call her publicist.

As she dragged herself up she examined herself in the full length mirror in her living room. She looked harrowed. Her cheeks were sallow and reduced, her eyes were red and puffy from crying and her hair was a mess. But all that didn't matter as she picked up the phone and made the call to her favorite human being at the moment.

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"Ishida speaking…" Uryu lifted the phone to his ear just before he was tackled by his wife.

"RUKIA! RUKIA!?" Kazumi shrieked into the phone, pinning her husband to the couch as she grappled with his for the phone.

"No, no this is Ichigo, why are you screaming Kaz?"

"That's Rukia's phone number…" she yanked the phone to her ear. "Why are you…"

"Listen I don't have time to explain… but Rukia isn't at her house… I'm here, right now…" Ichigo slumped against her bed.

"But how do you know…" Kazumi's mouth formed a perfect 'O' as her husband looked on in awe at her sudden realization. "You two met at the Christmas Gala…"

"Yeah… now listen, her planner in her phone said Dr. Chelsea…. Who is that?" Ichigo looked down at the little piece of paper.

"How did you get into her apartment?"

"THAT'S NOT THE POINT!"

"So-sorry! Doctor Chelsea is her OBGYN why?" Kazumi leaned back into the couch. "She doesn't see her again for another four months.

"Thanks Kazumi tell Uryu hi." His voice was breathless as he hung up.

"What on god's good earth was that about?" Uryu was still staring at his wife in awe.

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_**Girl, **_

_**You wanted,**_

_**To shut it all off and make a run for the door.**_

He sprinted down the streets of New York, his long black coat whipping out behind him as he did. He spun to avoid people, dashing down side streets to take him as fast as he could to the place where his life would take its most decisive fork.

_**It's so hard,**_

_**To make it,**_

_**For every inch we get we need a mile more.**_

Rukia felt her skin tingle as she walked out of the doctor's office and hailed a taxi easily. She was stalled slightly as a woman on the street asked for an autograph. Her sleek black hair whipped in the wind as she smiled and nodded.

_**But there is always so much distance can't feel it somehow,**_

_**But you have never ever felt it like you feel it right now.**_

His orange hair stood out as the people around him turned to watch the handsome young man dash down the street he paused to hail a cab again but then changed his mind and took off another direction. His heart pounded in his chest as he ran. There was no way she could leave him like this, there was no way that she could just end everything they had together… it hadn't even been given a chance.

_**I'm closing up inside and I was only just started,**_

_**And you can't be close enough unless I'm feeling your heart beat.**_

She sniffled a little as she stepped into the cab. As she gave the driver the order to take her to her favorite spa she had an odd feeling of unease. It was, as if, something life changing was about to happen. A stab at her heart made her want to head right back into the doctor's office but by that time the car had begun to move.

_**All of your love,**_

_**Was all that I needed.**_

_**All of your love,**_

_**Was all that I needed.**_

__Ichigo managed to skid to a stop at a crosswalk in the ice it had been far too long since he had seen her last. But from her television shows it seemed as though she was doing alright. He could feel his lungs icing over from the brisk jog that had taken him to this point. He couldn't help but wonder if it was all in vain… and hope that it wasn't.

_**Girl,what are you doing now?**_

_**And are you going out? **_

_**Or has your life shut down?**_

Rukia looked up from the papers in her lap as a tall and orange haired figure came into view on the corner of Times Square. She gasped and pressed her face to the window. He noticed her just as she drove by. Her heart lept into her throat as their eyes locked. Tears welled up in her eyes again as he disappeared. 'Ichigo' the thought was fleeting, until he came sprinting around the corner. He was so low the ground she thought he was out straight.

_**Are you there?**_

_**This thing keeps cutting out,**_

_**I feel like freaking out,**_

_**But we keep reaching out.**_

"ICHIGO!" He heard her voice as he rounded the corner. She stuck her head out of the window of the cab. "ICHIGO!" He paused and slid on the ice, slamming into the ground, hard. "ICHIGO!" Her voice echoed in his head for a second as the people around him stared in awe.

_**But there is always so much distance can't feel it somehow,**_

_**But you have never ever felt it like you feel it right now.**_

_**I'm closing up inside and I was only just started**_

_**But you can't be close enough unless I'm feeling your heart beat.**_

Bleeding from cuts to his hands and knees he scrambled to his feet as she ran towards him. He caught her in his arms and pressed his lips against hers. Her fingers tangled through his hair as he hiked her higher in his arms. "Ichigo, Ichigo, Ichigo…" she sobbed into his neck. She was like a little girl clinging to her father for help.

_**All of your love,**_

_**Was all that I needed.**_

_**All of your love,**_

_**Was all that I needed.**_

"It's okay baby… I'm here now…" he kissed her forehead, her face, her neck, anything he could as she squeezed him to her. "Don't worry I'm here now…" Her chest heaved and shuddered against him in heavy sobs that shook both of them. "I'm here now…" He breathed in her ear.

_**Girl,**_

_**It's hard enough,**_

_**Just to move around.**_

_**It's hard enough,**_

_**Just to move around.**_

Her mind raced as his arms tightened around her. It seemed like nothing matter now. None of the stressors in her environment, not even the TV crew that was probably recording the whole scene, bothered her. His arms were around her, protecting her, saving her. It WAS more than just physical. It was definitely something more.

_**I wanted you,**_

_**Oh, I wanted you,**_

_**Oh, I wanted you to move...**_

_**Oh, I wanted you,**_

_**Girl, I wanted you,**_

_**Oh, I wanted you to move...**_

_**Around.**_

_**Around.**_

"But I'm not ready to be in love…" She whispered to him. "I'm not ready to be and I don't think I am yet…"

"I don't care… I can wait as long as you want me to…" his breath was hot and heavy in her ear as she kissed him again. "Oh Rukia I don't care… just don't leave me like that again!"

_**All of your love,**_

_**Was all that I needed.**_

_**All of your love,**_

_**Was all that I needed.**_

Later into the evening she lay curled in his arms in her apartment. He stroked her hair away from her face and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Rukia." She didn't stir from her sleep. "Even if this is the only time that I can say it to you." She mumbled something to him but he knew it was only to the people in her dreams. He nuzzled his head into her neck and closed his eyes. It had been a long 3 months.

_**All of your love,**_

_**Was all that I needed.**_

_**All of your love,**_

_**Was all that I needed.**_

In the kitchen, only a few feet away, resting on the counter… was the pest that had started the entire mess. _'Kuchiki Pregnant! Attempting to Hide Boyfriend!'_ Love sniffed it to check for food then jumped away as it fell off the counter and into the trash can.

&&&

_And that's where I leave you to ponder if the tabloid is right or not… buuuuut… it could be a red herring… hmmm… we'll see…_

_LOVE, SHALAN_


End file.
